Teacher Job Description

WHAT DO TEACHERS DO?

Teachers create lesson plans and teach those plans to the entire class, individually to students or in
small groups, track student progress and present the information to parents, create tests, create and
reinforce classroom rules, work with school administration prepare students for standardized tests, and
manage students outside the classroom, such as in school hallways, detention, etc.

There's nothing better than doing something worthwhile, and making money to boot! Everyone you
know older than five has been influenced by a teacher. Teachers prepare and educate students for the
world. Starting with teaching the basics of math, reading and skills in preschool and elementary school,
and move to more complex and specialized concepts in middle, high school and post-secondary school.

JOB SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

Communication Skills: You must be able to speak clearly to students, other teachers, parents and
administration officials.

Instruction Skills: You will have to explain new ideas and unfamiliar concepts with authority and in a
clear and concise way so that students can understand. You must work to keep the students' attention

Writing Skills: Teachers write progress reports, notes home, and in the case of postsecondary teachers,
publish research. Writing skills are critical.

Patience: The students you work with will have different backgrounds and abilities. Patience will help
teachers deal with students who act out or have trouble following the material.

Creativity: Teachers have to find ways to involve students into their lessons. Additionally, teachers may
have to work with different learning styles to get the most out of each student.

People Skills: Engaging parents and creating healthy relationships with students and faculty will help
create a quality learning environment.

Teachers' Work is a highly readable, penetrating and often amusing account of the reality of teachers
working lives, as relevant to the profession and its future as it was when first published in 1985. Based
on the classic Australian study of the schools and homes of the wealthy and powerful and of ordinary
wage-earners described in Making the Difference , Teachers' Work draws on extended interviews with
teachers in elite private schools and mainstream government high schools and with the students and
parents who attend and patronise them. As well as providing an absorbing account of the life and work
of teachers through vivid portraits of people, classrooms and staffrooms, Teachers' Work illuminates the
interaction between personal relationships in the classroom and the social structures of gender and
class. In generating new ways of thinking about the character and origins of inequality in education, this
book gives teachers themselves cause for reflection, offers student-teachers a picture of the real world
of teaching, and provides parents with an insight into daily life behind the classroom door. At a time
when the power of 'effective teaching' is being widely recognised and national debate focuses on the
condition and prospcts of the teaching profession, Teachers' Work is as insightful and rewarding as ever.

Teachers are in a unique position to have a direct impact on their students. Teachers can see their work
in action, see the changes they affect, and in so doing they witness firsthand their goals coming to
fruition. No matter what the goals are, they can pretty much be summed into a single sentence: You
want to help people. And there are many ways you can help someone as a teacher. To name a few,
teachers aspire to educate, to inspire, to learn and to affect positive change.

Educate

A great teacher should love educating students, and one of the principal goals many teachers set for
themselves is to be the best educator they can be. There are different methods you can use to teach ,
and while your teaching style is unique to you, the most important thing is that you engage, motivate
and inspire students to learn.

Inspire

Teachers seek to inspire students in all aspects of their lives, and for many teachers, their greatest goal
is to be a role model . Teachers can inspire an uninterested student to become engrossed in learning.
They can motivate them to participate and focus, and even bring introverted students out of their shells.

Learn

You learn how people learn and how to best teach students. Additionally, so many other elements go
into teaching that the process of becoming an educator in itself teaches you a great deal. No matter
what you teach, your knowledge in many fields will deepen and expand. Then there’s the question of
the teacher credentialing process which is also a learning experience.

Change

Ambitious teachers are the ones who enter this career to affect change. These are the ones who want to
meet the demand for great teachers : They make it their goal to help improve the quality of education
for everyone. These teachers are willing to work in high needs schools , where there is low teacher
retention and impoverished communities desperate for committed, talented teachers.
Teacher Duties & Responsibilities

Being a teacher typically requires the ability to handle the following duties:

Familiarity with benchmarks and standards

Lecture

Lead discussion

Create lesson plans

Assess students

One-on-one work

Group work

Meet with parents

Depending on the subject they teach and the grade level, teachers instruct students according to a
curriculum that includes benchmarks and review processes. They plan, develop, write, and implement
programs in the classroom in keeping with school district and state education requirements, keeping
records of student achievement and tracking their abilities.

Teachers must keep classrooms engaged while still assessing students individually and working one-on-
one with students when necessary. Communicating with parents also is a major part of the job,
especially when students are struggling and need extra help or attention outside of the classroom.

Teacher Skills & Competencies

Successful teachers need to be able to connect with students in a meaningful way that goes beyond the
subject matter of the class. Some of the skills teachers need include :

erbal communication: Teachers need to effectively share information with students, colleagues, and
parents. When presenting lessons to students, teachers need to be able to do so in a way that keeps
students engaged and interested.

Listening: Communication is a two-way street, and to assess students effectively, teachers need to be
able to understand how and why students might be having difficulty or why they need to be challenged
further.
Patience : Students learn at different rates, so teachers have to be patient with those who are struggling
and devise ways to help them.

Critical thinking: Assessing progress is about more than just grading assignments and tests. Teachers
need to be able to analyze their own lessons and whether or not they are reaching students effectively.

Passion for learning: The most effective teachers generally are the ones who truly love learning.
Students recognize this and are more likely to learn to acquire that passion from teachers who have it.